Jul 6, 2004 - 12:00 am .- Pope John Paul II has appointed Bishop Gordon Dunlap Bennett, S.J., Auxiliary of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, U.S.A., as Bishop of Mandeville, in Jamaica. Bishop Dunlap Bennett was born on October 21, 1946 in Denver, CO, and was ordained a priest for the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) on June 14, 1975. He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore on December 23, 1997.

Jul 6, 2004 - 12:00 am .- Barring an out-of-court settlement, two cases on the alleged sexual abuse of children by a Portland priest are scheduled to go to trial today. The second case is a back-up if the first one is settled. This is only the eighth such trial in the United States in the last 20 years, reported the Oregonian.

Jul 6, 2004 - 12:00 am .- Made public today was a Letter by the Pope, written in Latin and dated June 11, in which he appointed Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, archbishop of Krakow, Poland, as his special envoy to the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the consecration of the Basilica of Lisieux on July 11.

Jul 6, 2004 - 12:00 am .- More than 2,100 teens from 13 states and Canada were encouraged to "rise up and join a Catholic revolution" at a Franciscan University of Steubenville youth conference held that past weekend, reported The Steubenville Herald-Star.

Jul 6, 2004 - 12:00 am .- The Jesuits’ congregational leader will visit Alabama this fall to help mark the 175th anniversary of Spring Hill College and its 50th anniversary of racial integration, reported The Associated Press.

Jul 6, 2004 - 12:00 am .- The "Fundacao Ajuda à Igreja que Sofre", Portuguese branch of the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), has called upon all Bishops and heads of religious institutions in Portugal to observe a day of prayer on July 13 in communion with persecuted Christians all over the world.

Jul 6, 2004 - 12:00 am .- The Chair of Arabic Literature at the Autonomous University of Madrid, Serafin Fanjul, is expressing his fear that the Spanish government is not taking the necessary measures to control the content of classes on Islam, after the minister of Justice announced the possibility of subsidizing Islamic classes for Muslims at public schools.

Jul 6, 2004 - 12:00 am .- President Enrique Bolaños of Nicaragua is denying reports that his government is attempting “to control” the Catholic Church in the country, saying the government is in full conformity with the accords signed by the Vatican and Nicaragua in 1861.